For those who follow a vegan diet, chocolate is off-limits. But Ach is made with ingredients that don’t involve animal byproducts, making it a sweet treat for those who don’t normally get to indulge in chocolate bars. Gintarė Ribikauskaitė developed the gorgeous packaging and typography for the Lithuanian brand, and we talked with her about designing Christmas packaging, balancing graphic elements and typography, and the importance of your gut instinct.
Walk us through the design process that you went through for this project.
Gintarė Ribikauskaitė: It all probably started the same way as other designers—the customer came to me with an idea to create a Christmas package for Ach vegan chocolate. I thought, “How can I impact the wonderful Christmas season?” We somehow quickly came to a mutual decision to reject using illustrations, which are likely to be Christmas graphic elements, and instead utilize typography because it has not been widely used in Lithuanian chocolate segments. Sketching did not take long, because the idea which I had in mind quickly and easily found itself on paper. Finally, I needed to scribble the details and work until the customer and I became pleased. This process was certainly short, creative, easy, and reassuring!
The typography is so captivating. How did you develop this for the packaging?
Gintarė Ribikauskaitė: Talking about typography I had a clear vision how it should look like. After searching for something similar as inspiration to use from internet—nothing. So I thought I should try it by myself. After all, Christmas chocolate must be full of certainty and sincerity which is given to others.
What was one of the biggest goals you set out to achieve with Ach Vegan Chocolate packaging and how did you accomplish it?
Gintarė Ribikauskaitė: The biggest goal was to create the main message fonts, which would look consistent and extend the continuity, and that there wouldn’t be any doubts. When I created almond chocolate notes I knew that I would sketch until I succeed. Maybe it is the only and guaranteed way to reach your goals.
What was the most challenging part of this project?
Gintarė Ribikauskaitė: The biggest challenge was to arrange highlights, create graphics elements which would not overcome typography, and it all should create the Christmas spirit. Thinking about the golden foil, I thought should I take a few details so it would not look like a Christmas decoration, but an exquisite gift.
If you could pick one aspect of the finished design that you like the most or feel especially proud of, what would it be and why?
Gintarė Ribikauskaitė: Looking at my work I can always find something to fix. But I am most satisfied with my graphic elements which supplemented the package, created the holiday spirit, and perfectly managed to integrate into the inner paper design.
Share one lesson that you learned while developing the finished product.
Gintarė Ribikauskaitė: The most important thing that I learned working with this project was the importance of intuition. Combining strong arguments with my intuition allowed the project to turn out unique and one-of-a-kind. I am grateful that a lot of people were as interested with and understand my idea about Christmas emotion.
